Yikes, I forgot it was that bad - must have cost him almost a whole new car to fix!

 

not as bad as the MM Enzo being rebuilt!









And there was a McLaren show room, I was in London in 04 and my friend took me to see it. only to my disappointment, it had moved days before I got there!!!!!!! Ah, still haven't seen one


At least they didn't have to move the steering wheel lol

 

Actually it was the BMW dealer in Sydney (or their insurance company) that paid to repair that car, as it was their technician who crashed it during a service. He reportedly got to keep his job, so perhaps it wasn't his fault? The story that was reported went something like this:

"...the driver apparently lost control in a wet patch on a right hand bend - he was in the car with two other passengers. It occurred on West Head Road, and did a 180 degree spin before going into bushland.

The driver of the car, according to the article, was one Ian Parkin, 45, of Marsfield who declined to comment."

Yeah - good idea - I'd decline to comment in that situation too.

Insurance payed out AU $1 Million for the repairs. It is chassis #009 and it has changed hands twice in the past few years and is now owned by someone who gets a lot of regular use out of the car. It's probably one of the most frequently driven F1s in the world actually. He leaves it parked on the street quite a bit too. Crazy!

Miles Collier - the article on chassis #022 is here from Sports Car Market magazine:

Sports Car Market Magazine > Million-Dollar McLaren F1 Meets Road Grader in Montana

Shame that the Collier Museum is not open to the public and that cameras are forbidden at their private events. In addition to that McLaren F1, Miles has an amazing collection of very significant cars in there.

>8^)
ER

 

I've said this before, but YOU ARE AN ENCYCLOPEDIA of McLaren F1's!

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but wow, a McLaren F1 in Australia, let alone Victoria! I had no idea there were any here. I'm guessing it's owned (or was) by Lindsay Fox.

Here's some more pics of the beautiful machine (albeit, not the best):

 

More of this, gents. And apologies if they have previously been posted:

 

that car gives me the chills in a good way!!

 

That is chassis #009, but has never been owned by Lindsay Fox. Fox may have owned an F1 at some point, but I have not be able to ever confirm that rumor.

The original owner of this F1 was Dean Wills. When he had the car it was crashed heavily by a technician from BMW Sydney while in for service in 2001. The car was sent back to the factory for repairs and at that time was repainted from its original bright silver to the color you see now. Also you can see in the larger photos that the wheels were painted to match the new body color which I think looked quite nice. Here's the post-crash photo:



Wills eventually sold the car to Maranello Motorsports in the beginning of 2005 and at that point the wheels were repainted the normal silver. They sold the car to Barry Fitzgerald later that year - probably in August or September. To my knowlege he is still the current owner today. It spends quite a bit of time parked on the curbs of Victoria - photos of it in the wild appear quite often. I don't think there's another F1 in the world that is treated that way on a regular basis, but I think it is pretty cool that he does that.

>8^)
ER

 

Thanks ER This F1 has some very interesting history. I just can't help shrug off the feeling that it's been molested so much from its original state. I can't believe the damage it sustained and yet has been restored to its former glory. Do you have any more photos of the damaged F1?

I didn't notice the difference in colours or the paint-matched wheels - was the current dark silver/grey an original option?

PS: I just did a search in Google for more info on McLaren colours and saw some threads from 2005 on another forum that you post on!

 

Very nice pics. Those were taken at Crown Casino in Melbourne. I often go there to spot some exotics but have never seen the McLaren F1 before